


Say the Word (and I will turn around and run to you)

by raziraphale



Series: ain't nothing in this world for free [4]
Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Agender Character, Communication, Cuddling & Snuggling, Declarations Of Love, Established Relationship, Gender Neutral Pronouns for Zer0, Insecurity, Light Angst, Literal Sleeping Together, Long-Distance Relationship, Other, Phone Calls & Telephones, Pre-Borderlands 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-12
Updated: 2020-02-12
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:40:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22671901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raziraphale/pseuds/raziraphale
Summary: It was hard to imagine the difficult times when there were times likethis.But, of course, Zer0 eventually left again, as they always did.Rhys tries (and mostly fails) to cope with the realities of dating a Vault Hunter.
Relationships: Rhys/Zer0 (Borderlands)
Series: ain't nothing in this world for free [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1642651
Comments: 10
Kudos: 139





	Say the Word (and I will turn around and run to you)

**Author's Note:**

> heyo again borderlands fandom !
> 
> I'm gonna be real with you... I'm mostly posting this fic bc I'm tired of looking at it resting open on my laptop. I've done all I want to do to it and I'm still not quite happy with it, but I really enjoyed some of the moments in this so I wanted to share for that reason. I'm moving on to other exciting fics so I'm letting this one go. if this is your first contact with me, I'm begging you to read my previous + more polished borderlands/zerhys stuff before you judge me too harshly lol
> 
> also there is no way to put this delicately but... I've been having an issue with people I have blocked on tumblr reading my stuff here bc ao3 doesn't have a block system. this literally does not apply to 99.9% percent of people reading this but like,,, if you Know this is you, consider clicking away and respecting the boundaries I've put in place. I realize this is messy since tumblr doesn't exactly let people know they've been blocked but if you're aware of it... 🙏 pretty please
> 
> title comes from ubiquitous synergy seeker's song "us" which has always been on my borderlands spotify playlist for some reason but now it's serving its ultimate purpose
> 
> cheers!

Rhys had known since the moment he first met Zer0 that any sort of close relationship with them would involve frequent absences. Which, yes, that did mean Rhys had been fantasizing about it before Zer0 probably even knew his name. Sue him.

Still, as Rhys sat alone in his dingy apartment in Sanctuary, he realized that he hadn’t really thought that it would be this _hard_. He had stuff to worry about, a fledgling Atlas corporation to support, but here he was sitting on his narrow bed debating the merits of calling Zer0 over ECHO.

Zer0 never called first. Which was _totally_ fine, of course. Really. Rhys had long accepted they were completely different kinds of people. Sure, it had taken him a while, including long nights of taking terrible ECHOnet quizzes (with his search history turned _off_ , for his own self-worth) to find out if he was being too needy or to try to figure out what a love language was. Turns out there wasn’t a love language called “hover silently around the person you love and save up all your words of affection into the occasional 17-syllable knockout”, but Rhys understood they were different all the same. Which, again, was _totally_ fine. Really.

As fine as it was, though, Rhys was getting tired of staring up at the ceiling and wasting valuable sleeping time not making the decision to call Zer0. Beyond vague fears of being too needy, Rhys worried about distracting them during a mission. Rhys had never seen Zer0 so much as falter, but that didn’t mean he wanted to risk calling them at the wrong time and throwing them off just the split second needed to put them in the path of a bullet. Rhys would never forgive himself if his clinginess got Zer0 injured or even killed.

So, instead of doing anything at all, Rhys continued to sit awake in his bed, wondering idly what Zer0 was up to now. He stayed there, lost in thought, until a sudden sound made him jump. It was the beeping sound of the alarm he’s rigged to the door.

“Rhys, I have returned,” said a familiar voice, in a hushed, synthesized whisper. Zer0 was standing in the doorway, tracking blood and dirt onto the already discoloured floor. They tilted their helmeted head at the sight of Rhys, still awake on the bed and raised their voice to a normal volume. “What are you still doing up? It is very late.”

“I was just about to call you!” Rhys said, breaking out into a sappy grin despite himself and crossing the room before Zer0 could. Zer0 didn’t need help devesting of their equipment, but Rhys helped anyway, the two standing chest-to-chest as Rhys reached around Zer0’s narrow torso to begin detaching the sniper rifle from its sling.

“Unnecessary,” Zer0 chided, as they continued to pull out guns seemingly out of thin air and place them on the kitchen counter, the many chips and gun-oil smears on its surface designating it as their regular home. “I was not gone very long. I always come back.”

Rhys didn’t bother arguing that he, personally, considered a month to be a long time as he removed the last of the grenades from Zer0’s belt and placed them on the counter with the rest of the arsenal. Just a short year ago even handling a grenade would’ve given Rhys an anxiety attack, but now he had a whole bunch of them sitting on his counter in the open like a bowl of exotic-looking fruit. Pandora had that effect on people.

“I know, I know,” Rhys said, finally answering as he drew away. “I still get worried. Feel a bit lonely. I’m sorry but me and anxiety are sort of a package deal.” Rhys tried to laugh, but it rang a little too pathetic to his own ears. “I missed you,” he tried instead.

In one quick, silent stride, Zer0 closed the distance that had crept up between them, giving Rhys no time to brace himself as Zer0’s helmet connected with his forehead with a dull _thunk_. “I missed you, too, Rhys.”

Objectively, the scene of the two of them was completely ridiculous. They were standing in the middle of the room beside Rhys’ tiny kitchenette which consistently housed more guns than actual food. Zer0 was nearly bent double, helmet pressed inelegantly to Rhys’ head in an awkward approximation of a kiss. That didn’t stop the blush from rising in Rhys’ face, or the grin spreading once again across his cheeks. A giggle bubbled up from Rhys’ throat – a touch embarrassed with an edge of exhaustion – as he gently pushed Zer0 away.

“Alright, okay,” he said, brightly “I know.” And he did.

“Let’s sleep,” Zer0 said, their helmet flashing little Zs, stretching to their full height in a way that made Rhys feel a little dizzy looking up. “I am exhausted.”

Rhys nodded in agreement, not even bothering to tell Zer0 to clean up as they crawled – blood, dirt, armour and all – into Rhys’ narrow bed. With Rhys’ one-room shoebox of an apartment it wasn’t realistic to have a bigger bed, but Rhys didn’t find himself minding at all, as it forced Zer0’s skinny form to curl around him like a malnourished cat.

“Goodnight, Rhys.” Zer0 said, their voice barely a synthetic hum in Rhys’ ear. “Love you.”

Zer0 said it with such casual ease that it wasn’t hard to forget momentarily about the previous month they’d been gone. It was hard to imagine the difficult times when there were times like _this_. “Love you, too, Zer0.”

~*~

But, of course, Zer0 eventually left again, as they always did.

Zer0’s latest mission was bleeding into its second month, and the worst part wasn’t even Rhys constantly missing Zer0. The truth was it was very easy to forget that Zer0 had even been here.

Stepping into his shitty apartment much later than was probably safe for someone of his fighting capability, Rhys was suddenly struck by what little impact Zer0 had made on the place. To be fair, the apartment had originally intended as a temporary hidey-hole until Rhys could get a more central Atlas facility up and running because, as nice as the Bio Dome facility was, Rhys would’ve gone crazy that far away from other people. Even as Atlas rose back up from the Pandoran dirt, Rhys couldn’t bring himself to ditch the apartment. Zer0 had been living a transient life before Rhys, and Rhys himself hadn’t had much of a stable life since his arrival on Pandora, so the apartment was probably the closest thing to a home either of them had had in recent memory. Still, you wouldn’t know Zer0 lived there by looking at it.

Zer0 always wore the same full-body armour and helmet, never taking either off, at least that Rhys could see. They took all of their equipment with them wherever their work took them, selling off any excess loot to their acquaintances in Sanctuary before even setting a foot back in Rhys’ place. Zer0 had never seemed to own any kind of frivolous possession, nothing that wouldn’t have a direct effect on Zer0’s continued survival in this kill or be killed corner of the galaxy.

The only proof that Zer0 had ever been here was the gun they had given Rhys, which stayed hidden away under his pillow. It was an old Hyperion model pistol, but Zer0 had painted over the eye-searing yellow with a neat, matt black. A red zero was stamped onto the handle and, as Rhys crawled into bed after another long day keeping Atlas afloat, he found himself sticking a hand under the pillow, his thumb straying to stroke along the grip.

He had long gotten out of the habit of waiting up for Zer0, and without much trouble drifted off to sleep.

~*~

Rhys looked forward to the times when Fiona and Sasha passed through Sanctuary. Even if he knew a lot of the other citizens through Zer0 or through Atlas business, interacting with Vault Hunters and Crimson Raiders still put him on edge. Fiona and Sasha, despite their many… _interesting_ qualities, still felt like a comfortable presence, even if it was getting embarrassing trying to explain away Zer0’s absences.

“They were on a mission last time, too, weren’t they?” Sasha said, somehow straddling a line between concerned and teasing. She had her arms folded in front of her on their table at Moxxi’s. Looking across at her, Rhys took a moment to wonder how his life would’ve been different with her as his partner, but quickly realized it wouldn’t be that much different at all. She’d still only blow into town every once in a while with the caravan and some familiar faces, Rhys left alone with Atlas. Apparently, he just wasn’t made for the Pandoran life.

“I’m starting to think you’ve been making this whole relationship up,” Fiona said in the tone of someone who’d really been thinking it all along.

“Yes,” said Rhys, a little too acidly for humour “Because I would just make up an annoying rumour about the most capable killer on the planet.”

“I mean, you _are_ a little dumb,” Sasha reminded him. “It’s kind of on-brand.”

Rhys was saved from responding by a familiar alien figure approaching the bar.

Rhys was so stunned that Zer0 managed to get their payment from Moxxi before Rhys could shout their name across the bar.

Rhys didn’t register the blood still congealing on Zer0’s armour until he felt it seep into the sleeves of his shirt as he wrapped his arms around them in a tight hug. Though Zer0 was far from overly affectionate, even Rhys noticed how unusually stiff their body had become.

“Rhys, I do not think –” Zer0 said, haltingly. Rhys imagined if they could see their helmet it would be displaying a buffering screen. “I do not think this is wise. We are not alone.”

Rhys couldn’t stop the feeling of hurt that weighed down on his body in an instant as he drew away, even as he understood what Zer0 was getting at. Even if Sanctuary was safe from the worst of the planet’s warmongers and bandits, mercenaries weren’t exactly famed for their loyalty. Someone would inevitably come after Zer0 given the right opportunity and, well, Zer0’s partner who sometimes lost his breath going up the stairs was certainly an easier target than a skilled assassin. Rhys rubbed the back of his neck self-consciously, suddenly keenly aware of the glances being thrown their way as he looked around the room.

Zer0 looked down at Rhys, and though an outsider could hardly differentiate between Zer0’s moods without the help of the helmet display, Rhys knew enough to see the regret wrought through Zer0’s slight frame.

“Hey,” Rhys said, softer and with the warmest smile he could muster. “I’m happy to see you again. I’ll see you back at the apartment?”

Zer0’s shoulders relaxed ever-so-slightly, and flashed a **[:)]** on their helmet for good measure. Rhys gave a friendly tap of his hand to the side of their mask and hoped Zer0 interpreted it as the kiss he intended it to be. “I’ll meet you there in a bit. I need to say goodbye to Fiona and Sasha.”

Zer0 left the bar quickly, but their feet still made no sound against the floor. Rhys wandered much more slowly, but just as eagerly, back to his booth. The expressions his friends met him with were not as enthusiastic.

“Rhys,” Sasha started, trying to find a way to voice her concern at least a little bit nicely. Not nearly as worried about hurting Rhys’ feelings, Fiona cut in.

“Are you _really_ sure you guys are together?” she said. She wasn’t trying to be mean, but try as she might Fiona’s voice always had an edge to it. Rhys had practice not holding it against her.

“Zer0’s just shy,” Rhys said instead. It was easier to explain than anything else, and the simplicity was worth it for the complicated expressions it put on Fiona and Sasha’s faces. They clearly couldn’t decide if he was delusional, and were trying to figure out what level of concern was appropriate for someone who had seemingly invented himself a relationship with a deadly Vault Hunter. “Anyway, I gotta get going back home. If you guys are still in town tomorrow feel free to come by.”

Rhys paid his tab and left them to their own conclusions.

~*~

Later, in the pitch dark of their silent apartment, Rhys let himself say what he’d been thinking since Zer0 walked into the bar. “This doesn’t feel real,” he said, lips brushing the armoured barrier between their skin, the precise body part a mystery among their tangle of limbs.

“I know what you mean.”

Rhys shook his head. “No, not in like a ‘wow I can’t believe my luck’ kind of way. Though, yeah, I guess in that way, too.” Rhys swallowed, starting over. “I mean, when you’re not here I start thinking that maybe I made everything up.”

“Oh.” The weight of the unfinished haiku hung in the air.

Emboldened by the silence, by the anonymous darkness, Rhys couldn’t stop the words that followed. “And you know I respect your privacy, or your culture, or whatever,” Rhys allowed himself a deep breath, “But I feel like I don’t know anything about you still. How much time have we even spent together total? You feel like, I don’t know, like a ghost.”

“I’m real.” The hurt was palpable even in Zer0’s modulated tone.

“I know, I know,” Rhys backpedaled, extricating himself from Zer0’s embrace and folding in on himself as far away as the bed would allow. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it. Sometimes, it’s just hard to –”

Rhys was cut off by the sound of rustling fabric, the sound of a zipper. Rhys rolled over the face Zer0 despite not being able to see them in the dark. “Zer0, you don’t have to –”

“I do.” Zer0’s voice was barely a hiss without any of the enhancements afforded by the helmet. After a few moments, in which Rhys felt unable to breathe amongst the silence, the rustling of fabric subsided. They laid there, presumably facing each other in the dark, neither moving. The moment felt brittle, and Rhys was hesitant to break it.

Then, the ghost of a touch across his bare abdomen. A touch followed on his shoulder, a distinctly four-fingered hand lightly tracing up the slope of it, travelling up his neck before resting at last at the side of his face. Zer0 was cool to the touch, like from a window left open just a little too late into the night. Their skin was tough, but not coarse. In any other context Rhys would’ve struggled to place the texture as part of a living thing. Zer0 felt strangely like Kevlar, or even that fake leather people wore sometimes back on Helios. Rhys leaned into the touch regardless.

“Can I…?” Rhys started, but before he could finish Zer0 had taken his organic hand in theirs and guided it to their own face. Rhys’ fingers traced the curves of his partner’s face. He couldn’t come up with an image of it in his mind, but restrained himself from activating his ECHO eye. It felt, oddly, like a violation of this moment of trust.

Rhys felt a giggle rise in his throat as one of Zer0’s hands brushed up against the empty socket where his prosthetic arm had been detached for the night, the odd sensation tickling at the sensitive skin. The sound seemed to diffuse the tension in an instant, and soon enough Rhys and Zer0 found themselves once again tangled together on the bed. Truth be told, Zer0’s bare skin didn’t feel all that different from their armoured suit, but it made all the difference.

They didn’t get up to anything more intimate before, exhausted by their moment of vulnerably, they both drifted off to sleep.

Rhys woke up to a cold bed, but the sound and smell of something frying across the room more than made up for it. He rolled over to face the room, and saw Zer0, back in their usual helmet and armour, nearly bent at a right angle over the low stove. Rhys laughed, for no reason other than that he wanted to, and in that moment, life wasn’t so bad again.

~*~

When Zer0 called over ECHO a couple weeks later, Rhys still assumed the worst. He sat bolt upright in his bed where he’d been sleeping just a second ago, the only light in the apartment the cool blue glow of his cybernetics waking up.

“Shit, are you dying?” Not waiting for an answer, Rhys ploughed on. “Actually, no, don’t answer that. Save your breath if you’re dying. Though, I guess, I’m still not entirely sure you need to –”

“I am not dying.” Zer0’s voice was dry and amused. “I just wanted to… check in.”

“Check in?” Rhys was smiling now.

A synthesized huff. “I am trying, Rhys.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. As you _very_ well know this line is _only_ for serious Atlas business. Can I put you on hold for –”

“Then I love you, Rhys.” Zer0 managed to sound both smug and tender. “Professionally, of course. Serious business.”

“Yeah, yeah, I love you, too, uh, fellow associate” Rhys said, feeling his mind start to wander. “Hey, how would you feel if we did make this a professional thing?”

Rhys could practically hear the question mark on their helmet. “I do not follow.”

“Come work for Atlas,” Rhys said bluntly. “Atlas is getting big enough to move off-world and I can’t really hold off on committing to it much longer on the promise of seeing you in Sanctuary every once and awhile. So, maybe you could just… come with me… when the time comes.”

A pause. “You know why I do this work.”

“Yes, I know, for the challenge” Rhys insisted, waving his arm around, even though he knew Zer0 couldn’t see it. “But I’m thinking that corporate competition is probably the best way to get it. Atlas has big enemies that are willing to put together the best tech and the best people just to get a leg up on us. It’s cutthroat, and I mean that literally. Pandoran bandits can’t compare to that level of organization.”

“I am… not sure, Rhys.”

“I – I realize it isn’t that simple,” Rhys sighed. “You’ve always kind of just gone wherever the wind takes you and, honestly that’s one of the reasons I always thought you were so cool.” Rhys huffed a self-deprecating laugh. “Staying in one place is a different kind of life. Just think about it, though. For me. Nothing has to happen right away.”

“I’ll think about it,” Zer0 replied, sounding a little more certain. “We can talk when I get home.”

 _Home_. Just having some static sense of _home_ was proof enough of how much Zer0 had changed already for Rhys, and the reminder made him smile. “And when will that be?”

“Soon,” Zer0 promised, and Rhys believed them. “I’ll see you soon.”

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading !! feel free to let me know about any errors bc as I said this is kind of a lose thing. 
> 
> I recently started borderlands 3 (finally! thank you new graphics card) so expect some new and exciting stuff here soon
> 
> feel free to bully me over on [tumblr](https://raziraphale.tumblr.com).
> 
> love you all !! xx


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